Hey, I'm Back :)

[Buddy'smyboy]

It's been a long time since I've been active on this site haha! I think it's been... almost 2 years since I've posted here? Sorry! Lots of stuff going on, so I got out of the habit of checking this place out, and then Buddy has been such a great boy I haven't needed help solving any problems.

To start off with, about two years ago, and incidentally the same time I stopped posting here, we moved out of my grandma's house and into a new house in town. Buddy has a nice big fenced-in yard, a deck to sleep under as he refuses to use the dog house on the porch for whatever reason (he even dragged a big dog blanket under the porch to sleep with-smart boy!), a nice garage for us to do tricks in if the weather's bad, and a very nice downstairs with an open floor plan so he can move in circles around the house. The only complaint I think he could make is the wood floors; he looked like Bambi on ice for a long time! We live at the top of a hill in a quiet housing development, so walks are nice. We also have forest and fields further down the hill/ridgeline with lots of blackberries in the summer.

It's close enough to walk to school, although this year I'm now driving as I'm 17. Last year was nice walking to school, but never back from school, as the daily hill-climb is quite a beast, especially with a loaded back-pack. This year I'm first-chair flutist in the school band, so I get to lead the flutes in sectionals. Jazz band starts this week, so that's great too. This year is also a trip year in my band, where we go to Florida for a week to participate in a band competition, go to Orlando Studio Resort, watch cool things like the Blue Man Group, and have a barbeque on the beach, so that's going to be super exciting

My grandma is doing better as well. She had a lot of health problems about 2 years ago, but they've stabilized, and mainly back and leg pain is what has been ailing her now, and the doctors have been doing a needle injection thing on her that should help with the pain and make it possible for her to walk better soon. My sister and I still visit her regularly and are on her school bus route, so we visit her often.

I'm also doing Running Start, which is a program in which I attend college classes my junior and senior year, enabling me to graduate high school with an associate's degree and transfer to a four-year college. I'm doing the Associates of Arts degree, and plan to pursue a career in animation and multi-media arts. I was on the fence for a long time about whether or not I wanted to pursue a career in animal behavior or the arts as my primary career, as they are quite different categories. Three factors ultimately had the most influence: the first is that animal behavior colleges don't really exist in my state, where as high ranking digital art schools such as Digipen and the technology hotspots of Microsoft and Nintendo among others do exist in Washington State and are well established. The second is that whenever I see a cool or cute animal, my first instinct is always to create its likeness or take qualities that I like about it and put it into my art, so I figured that was my heart calling me to art. The third was that I figured I have a long life ahead of me, and I could always become a certified dog trainer or something of the sort farther into the future. I don't have to be just an artist my entire life; 70-90 years is along time to learn stuff!

If you want to see my art, check me out at http://ewebster123.deviantart.com/ : I update it sporadically on a somewhat monthly basis lol. It's time consuming to post all of my stuff on there as I have to photograph it or scan every page, so I only put what I have the motivation for on there I will have a bunch of bird related art up soon, though. If anybody wants a drawing of their pet or something else, I'd love to do so, obviously for free otherwise I'm sure it would be illegal to advertise it on here! The only thing I don't really do is face portraits of people... they take a staggering amount of time to do!

So that's the scoop on me, what I've been doing, how Buddy is, and just about every exciting thing I can think of that I've done lately. I have to say, now that I've written on here and looked around on the forums again, I suddenly realized how much I liked this community and missed it. Glad to be back

[WufWuf]

Hey there welcome back, it's great to hear from you again. You art is fantastic and I really like your little chipmunk pic so cute. The hands are amazing too and way better than what I've done.

I hope you stick around and we get to hear more from you .

[Nettle]

Good to hear from you and thanks for the update

[MPbandmom]

I had been wondering how you were doing. Great to hear all of the good news. That college/high school program is great. We don't have quite as extensive of a program like the associates degree here, but my daughter went to college with her english comp. credits covered. I was even more excited about our program when I learned that the program in the neighboring school districts, only covers one semester of their college english credits. Our school district also has where one can take the class and then take a test which, depending on how one scores can count as college credit. That was for history and math, neither one of which my daughter is particularly into, so she passed on that option.

Congratulations on first chair! Have a great year and enjoy the trip. Consider keeping up with your music in college. There were several options for non music majors at my daughter"s university and being in a music group will create an instant network of new friends and support system in college that non music or arts people are less likely to develop. Then once out of college there are generally community bands around that one can join.

[Buddy'smyboy]

Our school district also has where one can take the class and then take a test which, depending on how one scores can count as college credit.

My school district is pretty fortunate, since kids can either do Running Start or take dual credit classes at the high school that are worth college credit (AP classes, they're called). A lot of my friends are doing AP, but I figured why not just do the real college experience and get full credit in a fraction of the time? I also was kind of bored of high school. I felt like a lot of the people around me just weren't as interested in learning as me. Oh, another + of R.S. is that the tuition cost was free, all the student has to pay for is books and provide their own transportation. My first online test is tonight, and my first essay is due Thurs... and then midterm is already in two weeks I feel like school started last week or something

...Consider keeping up with your music in college... Then once out of college there are generally community bands around that one can join.

I definitely want to keep up with music. I really enjoy it, and going into the arts field makes it all the better to be well-rounded in that area. I love being a band geek Another thought is that my band teacher paid for a large part of her college tuition by playing her flute at weddings with her pianist friend. Looking at it that way, not only is playing the flute fun, stimulating, and good for my brain, but also could be considered a long term investment in the future!



And on an unrelated note, I did just remember something a little neat. I've been a blood donor now for about a year and I just recently passed my half-gallon mark. Saving people's lives one pint at a time! The first time I donated was at school. I felt alright during that process, then about 10 minutes after got a little light-headed, I lay down and was okay. And then.... I went to sixth period band and tried playing my flute Bad idea. Nearly made me pass out! I haven't any problems since the first time, and I have to say I was almost asking for trouble then! So if anybody needs blood, I'm O-positive Just kidding!

[emmabeth]

It's great to hear from you!

Fab that the move happened and Buddy has a nice safe yard and cool places to walk. Your college program sounds amazing - its a long time since I was in school but i SO remember that feeling, of wanting to learn and being almost surrounded by people who really couldn't give a rats and were only there because they had no choice.

Do stick around and keep us up to date -fwiw, I think you have made the right education/career choice - animation, multi-media arts is seriously cool stuff and, sucks to have to think about it but thats where there's money... make enough you can do whatever you like, and yep, you can always go down the animal behaviour path later on in life, as any number of folk I know can tell you!

[Fundog]

Hey, it's good to hear from you, and welcome back! And it's really awesome to hear that you and your sister and your mom got your own place, a nice safe place for Buddy to be a normal dog.

I too took a sabbatical from here, for about a year or so, but I'm back as well.

17 already? My, how time flies! It seems the last time we heard from you, you were just 13.

[Buddy'smyboy]

17 already? My, how time flies! It seems the last time we heard from you, you were just 13.

Yeah, the last time I was active on here was early in my sophomore year! That makes me feel like time goes by really fast, because I can still remember things from back then like they were yesterday. It's so strange to think that in less than two years I'm going to be graduating!

[jacksdad]

wow how times flys. good to hear from you and glad things are going good.

[wvvdiup1]

Welcome back, Buddy'smyboy, and I'm glad to hear things are going well for you!

[K9Steve]

It's been a long time since I've been active on this site haha! I think it's been... almost 2 years since I've posted here? Sorry! Lots of stuff going on, so I got out of the habit of checking this place out, and then Buddy has been such a great boy I haven't needed help solving any problems.

To start off with, about two years ago, and incidentally the same time I stopped posting here, we moved out of my grandma's house and into a new house in town. Buddy has a nice big fenced-in yard, a deck to sleep under as he refuses to use the dog house on the porch for whatever reason (he even dragged a big dog blanket under the porch to sleep with-smart boy!), a nice garage for us to do tricks in if the weather's bad, and a very nice downstairs with an open floor plan so he can move in circles around the house. The only complaint I think he could make is the wood floors; he looked like Bambi on ice for a long time! We live at the top of a hill in a quiet housing development, so walks are nice. We also have forest and fields further down the hill/ridgeline with lots of blackberries in the summer.

It's close enough to walk to school, although this year I'm now driving as I'm 17. Last year was nice walking to school, but never back from school, as the daily hill-climb is quite a beast, especially with a loaded back-pack. This year I'm first-chair flutist in the school band, so I get to lead the flutes in sectionals. Jazz band starts this week, so that's great too. This year is also a trip year in my band, where we go to Florida for a week to participate in a band competition, go to Orlando Studio Resort, watch cool things like the Blue Man Group, and have a barbeque on the beach, so that's going to be super exciting

My grandma is doing better as well. She had a lot of health problems about 2 years ago, but they've stabilized, and mainly back and leg pain is what has been ailing her now, and the doctors have been doing a needle injection thing on her that should help with the pain and make it possible for her to walk better soon. My sister and I still visit her regularly and are on her school bus route, so we visit her often.

I'm also doing Running Start, which is a program in which I attend college classes my junior and senior year, enabling me to graduate high school with an associate's degree and transfer to a four-year college. I'm doing the Associates of Arts degree, and plan to pursue a career in animation and multi-media arts. I was on the fence for a long time about whether or not I wanted to pursue a career in animal behavior or the arts as my primary career, as they are quite different categories. Three factors ultimately had the most influence: the first is that animal behavior colleges don't really exist in my state, where as high ranking digital art schools such as Digipen and the technology hotspots of Microsoft and Nintendo among others do exist in Washington State and are well established. The second is that whenever I see a cool or cute animal, my first instinct is always to create its likeness or take qualities that I like about it and put it into my art, so I figured that was my heart calling me to art. The third was that I figured I have a long life ahead of me, and I could always become a certified dog trainer or something of the sort farther into the future. I don't have to be just an artist my entire life; 70-90 years is along time to learn stuff!

If you want to see my art, check me out at http://ewebster123.deviantart.com/ : I update it sporadically on a somewhat monthly basis lol. It's time consuming to post all of my stuff on there as I have to photograph it or scan every page, so I only put what I have the motivation for on there I will have a bunch of bird related art up soon, though. If anybody wants a drawing of their pet or something else, I'd love to do so, obviously for free otherwise I'm sure it would be illegal to advertise it on here! The only thing I don't really do is face portraits of people... they take a staggering amount of time to do!

So that's the scoop on me, what I've been doing, how Buddy is, and just about every exciting thing I can think of that I've done lately. I have to say, now that I've written on here and looked around on the forums again, I suddenly realized how much I liked this community and missed it. Glad to be back

My daughter is currently in a similar program you're in and she will have her associates degree in May 2014, just before she graduates from high school. She wants to be a veterinarian but have more background in dog/animal behavior as well as in dog/animal training. She's going onward to a four-year college and wants to start in June 2014, but so far, she hasn't told me which college/university she's going, however, I think she may be going to the University of Maryland, but I don't know for sure.

Anyhow, you have your whole life in front of you. I think you will be making definite decisions as you progress through college/university. I wish you well in your endeavors, Buddy'smyboy!

[Buddy'smyboy]

My daughter is currently in a similar program you're in and she will have her associates degree in May 2014, just before she graduates from high school. She wants to be a veterinarian but have more background in dog/animal behavior as well as in dog/animal training. She's going onward to a four-year college and wants to start in June 2014, but so far, she hasn't told me which college/university she's going, however, I think she may be going to the University of Maryland, but I don't know for sure.

Anyhow, you have your whole life in front of you. I think you will be making definite decisions as you progress through college/university. I wish you well in your endeavors, Buddy'smyboy!

Thank you very much for the support! I know how overwhelming it is to sort through colleges. I keep getting emails from colleges on the opposite side of the country from me: "hello prospective student, come visit us this weekend to see if we're the right fit for you!" They clearly never googled my location before they sent that

[Fundog]

No, I think it's more likely that colleges these days, knowing that it costs upwards of the cost of a house to fund a college education, expect parents to be able to afford a plane ticket to tour their college with their student. Like they expect only the wealthy kids are smart enough to get into a prestigious school.

My son also received an invite to tour Embry Riddle-- on the opposite coast from us-- unless he gets a full ride scholarship, there ain't a pig's chance of flying that we will ever go tour it just to "see if their school is a good fit for us."

[Buddy'smyboy]

No, I think it's more likely that colleges these days, knowing that it costs upwards of the cost of a house to fund a college education, expect parents to be able to afford a plane ticket to tour their college with their student. Like they expect only the wealthy kids are smart enough to get into a prestigious school.

My son also received an invite to tour Embry Riddle-- on the opposite coast from us-- unless he gets a full ride scholarship, there ain't a pig's chance of flying that we will ever go tour it just to "see if their school is a good fit for us."

I'll check out those colleges as soon as they agree to pay for my plane ticket Getting info packets in the mail is always good and free though, as is checking the websites.